


Over-Heating

by SDBookFan



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Dehydration, Gen, Heat Stroke, Hurt/Comfort, Kind of it's really heat exhaustion but that's not a tag, The T is because Virgil swears
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-15
Updated: 2017-10-15
Packaged: 2019-01-17 16:25:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12369561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SDBookFan/pseuds/SDBookFan
Summary: It really wasn't his fault. Roman had been sure he was fine.





	Over-Heating

It really wasn’t his fault.

Roman had gone on another one of his quests. It had been quite fun, and he had been, of course, successful. The problem arose after he had finished his quest. While still an image of royal beauty, he had not walked away from the affair wholly unaffected. Hours of running through forests and up mountains did take their toll after all.

He had intended to stop by his room, freshen up, and perhaps take a nap. But sadly, just as he had arrived back in his room, without time to even change his clothes, he could feel the summons from Thomas. He could have ignored it. But he wasn’t that badly off, and it wouldn’t do to disappoint the viewers.

So Roman had allowed himself to be summoned, sure that the video would be over soon enough, and that he could go and rest afterwards. It wasn’t as though he had been injured after all, so there couldn’t be any harm in waiting. Or so he’d thought.

Now struggling to keep himself from swaying as his head pounded and his vision blurred, Roman had to concede that he might have miscalculated a little.

 _Why_ , he thought despairingly, _is it so warm in this room? I swear it isn’t usually this hot._

He resisted the urge to tug at his collar. His royal outfit, which normally made him feel confident and kingly, now felt as though it was suffocating him. He could feel it sticking to his back where sweat had dripped down.

He shifted back on his feet, tilting his head a little, trying to get more air. He could swear his jacket had never felt this tight before. Was he getting enough air? He forced himself to keep breathing long and slow through his nose, but the urge to pant and gasp for air was getting overwhelming.

Roman could hear the others talking, but it was a struggle to pay attention. He really hoped the video would end soon. Despite his difficulty, he forced himself to focus back conversation in front of him.

“And that’s why I think we should get a dog,” Morality was saying cheerfully.

“I quite agree,” Roman broke in, smiling hard, hoping it was enough to cover the tremors going through his body. “A dog is a splendid idea!”

 _There,_ he thought, as Logic began an exasperated rant on why they wouldn’t be able to get a dog, _hopefully that contribution will be enough for them to overlook me until we’re done here._

But as the video dragged on, that hope seemed less and less likely. Roman let his eyes fall shut, as a wave of nausea went through him, twisting his stomach into knots. He was so dizzy.

Eventually, despite his stubbornness and pride, he just couldn’t do it. He couldn’t go on. He just-

Roman dropped to his knees.

He managed to bring one knee up to meet his forehead, allowing him to rest his head on it as he gasped for air, now sure that somehow all the oxygen had left the room. Everything was spinning, and god, his head. His head hurt. It pounded like a drum, every beat of his heart bringing a new pulse of pain.

Then the others were beside him. Hands were tipping him back from his hunched position to lean him back against a chest. He blinked up dazedly. Morality.

Meanwhile, another hand had gone to his forehead, then to his neck pressed against his pulse.

“He’s clammy,” a voice said, “And his heart’s racing.” It was Logic.

“Fucking hell, Princey, what’d you do to yourself?”

Normally Roman would have shot back a witty reply, but right now he was much more focused on his gasping lungs and his pounding head than he was on Anxiety. So instead, he tried to focus on his breathing, trying to slow it down. It wasn’t working.

When his eyes opened again, ( _and when had he shut them?_ ) he was in his bedroom, being placed down on his bed, his jacket and sash having been removed. The silken covers felt cool against his skin, and he gratefully sank against the pillows.

Then a water bottle came into his line of vision. Imbued with new strength at the thought of sweet, precious water, he lunged for the open bottle, his hand coming up to grasp it, as he tried to gulp down as much as possible.

Then it was yanked away. He glared up at the culprit, Anxiety, still breathing too hard to speak.

Anxiety rolled his eyes. “Easy, Royal Pain,” he drawled, “Drink that fast and you’re just going to be sick. Take it slow, dumbass.“

He then raised the bottle up to Roman’s lips again. Grudgingly, Roman followed his advice, taking smaller, slower sips, relishing in the sensation of water running down his parched throat. When he had drained the entire bottle, he let himself fall back against the cushions.

He felt better, no longer quite so dizzy or nauseous, but he still felt exhausted, and his headache hadn’t seemed to have faded at all.

“So,” Anxiety said, watching him carefully, as he put the empty bottle by Roman’s bedside. “What happened? Logic said you looked you were suffering from heat exhaustion.”

Roman grimaced. “Just a long day of questing,” he replied wearily, “With no chance of rest before the video.” Eager to change the subject, he asked, "Where is Logic anyway?”

“With Thomas,” Anxiety said, “Making sure he doesn’t freak out. Morality’s getting some cool cloths to put on your head. And more water for you to drink”

That sounded amazing actually. But painkillers would be even better. Roman didn’t feel up to standing, but perhaps he could ask…

“Do you think he could bring some painkillers as well” Roman said, hoping desperately that the answer was yes. He just wanted to sleep, but there was no chance of that while his head felt like a herd of elephants was stampeding through it.

Anxiety raised an eyebrow. “Headache?” he asked, sounding sympathetic for once, rather than mocking.

Roman only groaned in response.

“I’ll grab some for you,” Anxiety told him, “I’ve got some extra strong Advil in my room.”

Before Roman could ask why he had that, Anxiety hurried out of the room. With nothing to distract him now, he let his mind drift, thoughts swirling incoherently.

After only a few moments, Morality entered, smiling at him sympathetically. “How’re you feeling, kiddo?” he asked.

“Awful,” Roman stated, “I feel weak and hot, and my head won’t stop hurting.”

Morality grimaced, coming forward with the cool cloths Anxiety had promised. “Yeah, that does sound bad,” he said. "You really need to take better care of yourself.”

“It’s not like I intended for this to happen,” Roman grumbled, but he let Morality set one of the clothes on the back of his neck, and the other on his forehead, as he gratefully sipped the water he had brought.

This time it was ice water, and it felt impossibly good.

Before he had drained half of it, Anxiety reappeared, carrying two small pills in his hand.

“Here,” he said, thrusting them forward. “Take these.”

Roman downed them eagerly, more than ready for the pain to ease. Soon after he finished the rest of the water, and setting the cup aside, he settled down to a more horizontal position.

“Going to sleep, kiddo” Morality said, peering down at him.

Roman hummed in response, not wanting to take the energy to reply properly.

But Morality didn’t seem put off by the lackluster response. “Alright,” he said, “We’ll leave you to it. Feel better, okay?”

Roman hoped he would. He hated the way he felt right now, the way his body had betrayed him, all the strength draining out of him until he was left weak and gasping, fighting for air as the heat threatened to suffocate him.

Anxiety lingered a bit, giving him one last glance. “Take a shower when you wake up,” he finally said. “It’ll help get rid of the last of the effects.”

With that he disappeared out the door. Sleepily, Roman wondered how he knew that. Then again, Anxiety did dress exclusively in black, so it was quite possible he’d over-heated before as well. It didn’t really matter though.

Roman turned on his side, so his cheek was pressed against the cool pillow. He was so tired.

 _Next time I’ll bring water with me,_ he thought as he drifted off. _I never want to go through this again._

**Author's Note:**

> Check out my tumblr at ec-sanderssides


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